Surah 114: An-Nas

The Holy Qur’an with English Translation and Commentary (Five Volume Commentary)

[a]In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.

[a] See 1:1.

Say, ‘I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind,[4875]

[4875] Commentary:

In the present Surah three Divine attributes, viz. رب الناس (Lord of mankind), ملک الناس (King of mankind), اله الناس (God of mankind), have been invoked as against one attribute, viz. رب الفلق (Lord of the dawn) in the preceding Surah, because this one attribute comprises all the three above-mentioned attributes. Whereas one Divine attribute, viz. رب الفلق (Lord of the dawn) has been invoked against four kinds of mischief in the previous Surah, in the Surah under comment three Divine attributes have been invoked against one mischief, i.e. whispering of the Evil One. This is because promptings or insinuations of Satan cover all conceivable evils.

Mention of three Divine attributes in the Surah implies that all sin proceeds from three causes, viz. when a person looks upon other men as his رب (Lord) or ملک (King), or اله (God), that is to say, he regards them as the main prop or support of his life or slavishly surrenders to their undue authority or makes them the object of his love and adoration. A believer is enjoined here to look up to God alone as the real support of his life, and to render to Him alone true and unconditional obedience and to make Him alone the real object of his love and adoration. Or, the believer may have been enjoined in these verses constantly to seek protection against the ravages of exploiting capitalists, tyrannical rulers and from the crafty priestly class who, taking undue advantage of the unwary and simple-minded folk exploit them mercilessly. The reference seems particularly to be to the conditions obtaining during the latter days.

The [b]King of mankind,

[b] 59:24; 62:2.

The God of mankind,

From the evil of the whisperings of the sneaking whisperer,

Who whispers into the hearts of men,

From among the Jinn and men.’[4876]

[4876] Commentary:

The verse may mean that the Evil One whispers evil thoughts into the hearts of the jinn (big men) and common men, sparing nobody. Or it may mean that whisperers of evil are to be found both among the jinn and common men. The verse may also refer to the evils of western democracies and of the Communist powers that work from behind the iron curtain.